"All Fall Down" is a 1986 song by the British new wave band Ultravox. It was released as the second single from the band's eighth studio album U-Vox, on 10 November 1986.
| "All Fall Down" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ultravox | ||||
| from the album U-Vox | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 10 November 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 5:07 | |||
| Label | Chrysalis Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Chris Cross, Billy Currie, Midge Ure | |||
| Producer(s) | Ultravox, Conny Plank | |||
| Ultravox singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song's lyrics carry a strong anti-war sentiment. The Irish folk group The Chieftains also guest-performed on "All Fall Down".[1][2]
After a string of hits in the 1980s, "All Fall Down" would be the band's sixteenth and final Top 40 hit until a remix of their 1981 hit "Vienna" was released in the 1990s.
Background
editUre said in 1986: 'Although we said it before, the main difference is that we´ve no barriers whatsoever, we let its song and its arrangement dictate what that song should sound like. So a song like "All Fall Down" was like you´d imagine a Jacques Brel Celtic protest song to sound, it has a very strong celtic folk feel, with acoustic guitars and instruments. So we used Chieftains on it, went over to Dublin to record them. Although at the time the idea sounded really bizarre, the combination of us and them, a band who supposedly uses technology to its utmost and this band who uses no technology at all, that combination works really well.'[3]
Ure said in 2012: 'The album "U-VOX" is a mess and displays a band falling apart, but in "All Fall Down" we successfully gather ourselves together with folk band The Chieftains in a very easy and powerful folk song.'[4]
Structure
editThe song consists of two verses and an instrumental theme. It has no (sung) chorus. After the first verse, the theme is introduced and repeated one time. After the second verse, the theme is played as a coda and repeated for about 3 minutes, then faded out. The first and the last note of the theme are identical. In the coda, different from the introduction, the theme begins again with the last note of the preceding repetition; i.e. the theme actually never ends since, when the last note has been played, the next repetition has already begun.
Release details
editThe B-side is "Dreams?", an ambient medley with a spoken-word part near the end, asking questions about dreams. Midge Ure has since stated that he recorded this straight from a radio show.
The single came with a free bonus single with a live version of "All Fall Down", performed at Wembley Arena in November 1986. From the same concert is a live version of U-Vox track "Dream On" as the B-side.
"All Fall Down" peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.[5][6] It would be the band's final hit single, until a remix of "Vienna" charted in the early 1990s.
Track listing
edit7" version
edit- "All Fall Down" – 5:07
- "Dreams?" – 2:30
12" version
edit- "All Fall Down (Extended Mix)" – 7:40
- "Dreams?" – 2:30
- "All Fall Down (Instrumental)" – 5:34
7" bonus single
edit- "All Fall Down (live 6 Nov 86 at Wembley Arena, London)" – 5:36
- "Dream On (live 6 Nov 86 at Wembley Arena, London)" – 3:47
References
edit- ^ "allmusic". 1 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
- ^ U-Vox Tour Program 1986
- ^ U-Vox Tour Program 1986
- ^ "Interview". Archived from the original on 15 April 2015.
- ^ "discogs.com". Archived from the original on 9 April 2010.
- ^ "officialcharts". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.